The English term comes from Japanese tōfu (豆腐), borrowed from the original Chinese equivalent (豆腐 or 荳腐) transcribed tou-fu (Wade-Giles) or dòufu (pinyin), literally “bean” (豆) + “curdled” or “fermented” (腐). – Wiki – here.

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……tofu is not weird. It is a centuries-old Asian traditional food. Straight out of the package, it has loads of protein, but essentially no taste—the vegan equivalent of egg white. But marinated, grilled, baked, or added to stir-fries, it is delicious and quickly becomes a favorite.

Many years ago, researchers found that soybeans—like many plants—contain natural isoflavones, whose chemical structure is somewhat similar to human steroid hormones, like testosterone or estrogens, leading some to speculate that soy products might have hormonal effects—increasing cancer risk in women, for example.

Over the years, these biological issues have been studied in detail. And in 2008, eight prior studies conducted in Asians and Asian Americans were combined in a meta-analysis. The populations were selected because they have a very wide range of soy intake, from almost none to very high. It turned out that, instead of soy products causing cancer, they appeared to help prevent it. Women with the highest soy intake—including soy milk, tofu, and similar products—had 29 percent less risk of breast cancer, compared with women who generally skipped soy. By 2014, 35 studies were summarized in a new meta-analysis, showing that women eating the most soy products had a 41 reduction in the risk of breast cancer.

In 2012, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published a different kind of study. This time, the focus was on women who had had breast cancer in the past. The question now was whether tofu, soy milk, or other soy products would affect the likelihood of cancer coming back.

And it did. Drawing on a total of 9,514 women previously treated for breast cancer, those who consumed the most soy had about a 30 percent reduction in the risk of cancer recurrence.

In other words, soy products are protective. They reduce the likelihood of getting cancer, and, for women previously diagnosed with breast cancer, they reduce the odds that cancer will ever come back.